Still Doctor's Lady?
by ultimatelaurafan
Summary: Will a very special someone come once again into Dr. Hiram Baker's life? Or has she met someone else?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story takes place a few months after the episode, "Doctor's Lady." Hope you enjoy it! :)**

Dr. Hiram Baker sat in his office, reading one of his medical books. He was just about to close up and head up to his room to rest a while. He heard a knock at the door.

"Door's open." He said while packing up his medical supplies.

The door opens and in walks young Laura Ingalls. "Hi Dr. Baker."

"Why, hello Laura. Can I do anything for you?"

"Yes sir, Jack got into some foxtails again! I can never keep him out of them!" Laura said making a face, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"Well, I'll be over in an hour, all right?"

"Ok, thanks Dr. Baker." Laura said and started for home.

He was about to head upstairs when he heard another knock on the door. He walked over and opened it and found Laura standing on the other side.

"I almost forgot! Ma wanted me to ask you if you wanted to have supper with us tomorrow night."

"Well, tell her I'll be there." He said, chuckling.

"Ok." Laura said and grinned. She turned to go but stood in the doorway instead. "Did you hear that Miss Thorwald is coming back to Walnut Grove for a visit?"

"No Laura, I didn't know that."

"Well, she is,...wouldn't it be somethin' if you two got back together?...I sure wish you and Katie had gotten married, ."

"Me too, Laura." He said, his lips sort of forming into a smile. "Me too."

"Are you all right, Dr. Baker?" She questions him. "You seem a bit down."

"I'll be all right." He says. "You run along, you mustn't keep your folks waiting." He said raising his eyebrows, laying his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes sir." Laura says and heads once again for home.

Dr. Baker heads upstairs to his bedroom. "You miss her, Baker. That's all." Hiram said to himself, running his hands through his honey-colored hair. He sighed and sat on the bed and was about to remove his black vest when he heard a knock at the door. "Be down in a minute!" He hollered and trudged down the stairs. "Who now?" He grumbled to himself and opened the door just to find out that it was none other than Harriet Oleson.

"Oh...Mrs. Oleson...What can I do you for?"

"My Willie has a terrible cough and I need some medicine for him!" Harriet said in her usual tone.

"All right." Hiram said grabbing a small bottle of cough medicine from one of the shelves. "Here you are."

"Thank you." Harriet said and turned to leave.

"Mrs. Oleson, I hear that Katie is coming back to town."

"Yes and while she is here I want you to keep your distance, Dr. Baker!" She snapped at him. "I am ever so glad that you hadn't married her!"

"Mrs. Oleson, I already know how you feel about Katie and I together and I don't wish to hear it again!" He says sternly, but Harriet ignores him.

"You are too old for her! She needs someone more her age, and she has found just the man. His name is Granville S. Voclain and he is just perfect for her! He is wealthy, handsome, and very sweet to her. He is wanting to be a famous writer someday and is studying in Chicago."

"Mrs. Oleson, I am not wanting to go further into this conversation for fear I might say something un-Christianlike. Please, leave my office at once!...Goodbye!" He says and shoves her out the door.

"Well I never!" She exclaimes bitterly and quickly walks back to the mercantile. Hiram walked back up to his room, took his nap and went over to the Ingalls place and helped Laura remove the foxtails from Jack's fur.


	2. Chapter 2

Weeks later, a stagecoah arrived to Walnut Grove, Minnesota with Katie Thorwald as a passenger. Doc Baker was in his office at the time so he didn't meet the stagecoach as some others from town had.

_"She'll be much happier with that Granville fellow. He'll be able to love her in a way you can't." _Hiram Baker thought to himself, sitting at his desk. He heard a commotion coming from outside.

"Auntie, I'll be fine. I'll just need someone to lean on and help me get to Dr. Baker's." Young Katie Thorwald said to her Aunt Harriet Oleson.

"I just can't believe this happened again! And all because of _this_ driver,...Can't you learn to control your horses?" Harriet snapped at the stagecoach driver."You're such a Jehu! Driving so furiously fast and carelessly!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Ma'am." said the stagecoach driver, Mr. Hector Nedbalek.

Mrs. Oleson just huffed and ignored the man and escorted Katie into Dr. Baker's office. Dr. Baker saw them coming up the way, so he opened the door before they had a chance to knock.

"Hello Katie." Hiram said. "How is it that you always manage to sprain something after exiting a stagecoach?" He asked, chuckling.

"Well Hiram, at least this time I've sprained just my ankle and not my hand...Which I must admit was a very dirty trick you played on me." said Katie, laughing and remembering how he knocked over a glass jar filled with cotton balls, and at the same time jerking her thumb back into place... Hiram and Katie couldn't stop looking in each others' eyes. "Well if you will excuse us, I believe that Dr. Baker needs to check over my ankle." She smiles looking into his blue eyes. Everyone left and Dr. Baker examined her ankle and he said that it was absolutely fine. Katie smiled, she knew she faked the sprain just to see Doc Baker. No one else knew, though.

"So...are you glad that I'm back in town for a while?" She asked him.

"Well of course,...I mean why wouldn't I be? I've missed you, Katie."

"I've missed you, Hiram Baker." She smiles. "I hear that there's a church social coming up. Will you be my escort?"

"What about Granville S. Voclain?"

"What about him?" She says, confused.

"Your Aunt says you two are courting. Not that it's any of my business, but..."

"She told you that!" Katie said, interrupting him. "Don't listen to her, she has no idea what she's talking about. Granville is just a man that lives in my building. He has feelings for me, but I don't feel the same way for him."

_"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE I HAVE FEELINGS FOR, HIRAM!" _She thought to herself. Her thoughts seemed to yell in her head. There was a long pause until she said that she must leave.

"Do you want me to see you out?" He asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Goodbye Hiram." She smiled and left his office. Katie walked to the mercantile and got settled in with the Oleson's.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week was the church social and Hiram walked over to the Olesons' place and picked Katie up and went over the the church, where everyone was arriving.

"I must say, Katie, you're looking beautiful tonight." Katie was wearing a ruby-colored dress, a gold heart-shaped locket, and the watch-chain ring Hiram had made her. Her dark brown hair was curled and put half up with a ribbon that matched the color of the dress, leavng the rest of her hair down, falling to the middle of her back.

"Did you notice I'm wearing the ring you made me?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, and I'm glad...as I told you once before, it was made for you...and only you." He whispered the last three words, holding her hand in both of his.

They entered the building and saw all the school desks leaned up against each wall, so where they were originally put for school, it was all open space. Mrs. Oleson saw to this, because according to her, this was the only place large enough to hold a gathering such as this. May Heaven forbid to hold it in a barn for goodness sake, she had said.

They heard Charles Ingalls softly playing the tune of "_Barbara Allen_" on his fiddle, and some people started dancing. Hiram asked Katie if she would like to dance. She did, and so they stepped out on the dancefloor. She held his hand extended, and put her other hand on his shoulder. His other hand wrapped around her thin waist, and they moved in time to the music. They talked while they danced.

"So how has living in Chicago been?...Wonderful I suppose." He said.

"Yes, very wonderful...I'm studying to be a nurse." She smiles at him.

"That's great!...The large hospitals in Chicago need all the nurses they can get."

"Actually Hiram...I want to be a country, small town, nurse." Katie told him.

He glanced at her dress. It wasn't as fancy as the dresses she usually wore, it was more like a pretty Sunday dress, and considering what she just told him, Hiram knew what Katie was trying to do.

"Katie...don't change yourself...just to win me back...it isn't right. Be yourself. Be who you are." He said, looking into her brown eyes.

She stared at Hiram in disbelief...She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She took him by the hand and led him outside.

"Hiram...I'm not changing for you. I'm changing because I'm sick of all this, because I'm wealthy...I'm tired of being treated the way I am just because of my last name!" She says, raising her voice. "And if me changing, as you say, 'wins you back' in the process...then so be it!" She talks to him gently this time. "Hiram, you know I love you,...and when I left that day on the stagecoach it was like a part of me died and was buried...here in Walnut Grove." Tears start to run down her cheeks. "I know how you and my family feel about our age difference, but just don't care...I don't Hiram!...When a man and woman are in love that should be the only thing that matters! Not age or looks! And if we ever were to marry then they would just have to get used to it! My aunt in particular...I'll let you think on what I've said, Hiram Baker..." And with that Katie went back inside. Hiram wasn't sure on what he should do. He didn't think he could go back in that building after a talking-to like that. He just couldn't face her,...so he headed for home.

Two months later, Katie was about to get on a stagecoach, going to a train-station that would bring her back to Chicago. She looked over her shoulder just to see if Hiram was there, but he was not. She went aboard and sat down and sighed. "_I guess we're not meant to be together._" She thought to herself. The stage rolled away from Walnut Grove, as Katie Thorwald thought,...forever. The stage had gone two miles, and the driver heard someone yelling. He stopped the stage and looked back and saw a middle-aged man in black slacks, a white shirt, and a black vest. His watch chain bouncing as he ran...He asked if he could talk to one of the passengers.

"Katie!...Katie Thorwald!" He yelled.

"Hiram!" She called back, sticking most of her body out of the stagecoach door.

He puts his arms around her waist, gently helping her down. "Katie, I want you to know when you left on that first stagecoach,...I watched you leave from my bedroom window...Seeing you go...it felt like it made my heart break into a million pieces," There were tears in his eyes as he was saying this. "I don't understand why you,...a beautiful, young, 19 year old woman would love a 40 year old, middle-aged man like me, but, when people are in love it makes them do strange things, feel stange things...Katie,...what I'm trying to say is,...stay here in Walnut Grove with me,...I love you, Katie Thorwald!" He leans in to give her a very passionate kiss, and she kisses him back.

"Would you like your carpet bag Ma'am?" The stage-driver asked.

"Yes, thank you." She grabs her bag and drops it on the ground by her feet and Hiram took her in his arms and they kissed again as the stagecoach moved farther and farther away from the two.

"Hold me Hiram, never let me go." She says, closing her eyes while in his embrace.

"I love you, Katie." He said stroking her long, brown hair, flowing in the wind, and giving her sweet kisses. "I want to do it right this time,...we'll court for four months, then we can get married. I'll buy you a new engagment ring and a wedding ring, too." He said looking in her deep brown eyes and holding her by the arms.

"Oh, Hiram, no...It's too expensive."

"It's worth it Katie,...every cent." He holds her, stroking her hair. "Every cent of it."

"Then what shall this be?" She asks about her watch-chain ring.

"Your courtship ring." He smiles giving her a kiss on the cheek. He grabbed her bag, and helped her into his buggy, and they drove back to Walnut Grove.


	4. Chapter 4

"I just can't believe this! After all I've said...And you're still going to court the man!" Harriet Oleson said to her niece in the parlor of the Oleson's home. "I told you he's to old for you!...And whatever happened with you and Granville S. Voclain?"

"I was never in love with him, Auntie!...Never was, never will!...I only love Hiram."

"But consider your backround, you'd be more suitable with a man like..." She started to say.

"I don't care about my backround!" Katie yelled.

"But think about it!...You marrying Hiram Baker would be like me being married to Charles Ingalls!"

Nels couldn't help but laugh. "So you're saying you're old." He muttered.

"What was that, Nels?" She said and gave her husband a piercing glare.

"I'm really cold...Really cold." He said, rubbing his arms, trying to 'warm himself up'. "I think I'll be heading up to bed now."..."Plus I'd feel sorry for Charles, if you two were married." He muttered again.

"Nels!" She said, glaring at him. "I heard that!"

"I love you, dear." Nels said.

"Back to what we were talking about..." Harriet said smoothing out her apron.

"Yes! Back to what we were talking about!...I don't care if you two agree with me, but I love Hiram Baker and I going to marry him in four months!...You're just going to have to get used to it!" Katie said and ran to the stairs.

"Well I never!" Harriet exclaimed.

"Me either!" Katie shouted, sticking her head in the doorway, and running upstairs to her room.

"Oh for Heaven's sakes, Nels!...She can't marry Doc Baker!...She just can't!"

"SHUT UP HARRIET!" He yelled, and to his surprise, she did.

"Why can't she marry him?" He asked looking her straight in the eyes. "They are in love Harriet, and nothing should stop two people who are in love!"

"But he's to old!" She snapped.

"Is this how you're going to act when one of our children gets married?" He said, raising his voice.

Harriet thought for a moment. How would she act when Nellie or even Willie got married? With this thought in her mind,...her heart softened ever so slightly...Like the grinch after he realized how bad he was for stealing all the Who's presents down in Whoville (I know random, lol.).

"I guess they do make kind of a cute couple."

"They do." Nels said.

"And I guess it would be nice to have a doctor in the family." Harriet said.

"Harriet!"

"Oh, I love you Nels." She said, giving him a big hug.

Four months had passed and the day had arrived. Dr. Hiram Baker was standing at the front of the Walnut Grove Church with the Rev. Robert Alden. The Ingalls family and the Oleson's except for Nels were in the pews as witnesses, for Nels would be walking his niece down the aisle, giving her away. (If you remember in the episode '_Doctor's Lady_', Katie mentions that her father had passed away.)

Katie wore the beautiful red prairie dress. She held a bouquet of prairie wildflowers and queen anne's lace, tied with a blue ribbon. Hiram wore his best black suit, white shirt, and black ribbon bow-tie. As Nels and Katie entered the back of the church, and everyone stood. Nels and Katie proceeded to walk down the aisle and when they got to the front, Nels hugged his niece, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you Uncle Nels." Katie whispered, while her uncle's embrace.

Nels sat down next to his wife, and Katie stood next to Hiram. Then, Rev. Alden spoke.

"Before I begin, let's start with reading a Scripture passage, shall we?"

He began to read out of Song of Solomon 8:6-7.

"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy as cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned."

Rev. Alden went on to say, "The strong love that these two people share is being recognized today. They will be united in marriage...If any man can find a reason why these two should not be wed...let him speak now and forever hold his peace..."

No one spoke up, so he continued...

"Will you, Hiram Baker, take this woman to be your wife?...To love, honor, and cherish, till death do you both part?"

"I will." He says and smiles down at Katie.

"And will you, Kathren Eliza Thorwald, take Hiram Baker to be your husband?...To love, honor, and cherish, till death do you both part?"

"I will." She says, glancing at Hiram. She smiles.

"Kiss your bride, Dr.!" Reverend Alden said, smiling.

With her flowers still in hand, Katie wrapped her hands around the back of his neck. Hiram places his hands on her waist, and they kiss. They smile at each other after they release their kiss.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hiram and Kathren Baker..." Hiram said, looking into her brown eyes. He kisses her again.

"You're forgetting something, Hiram." Katie said smiling up at him, drawing imaginary circles on his chest. "I'm a doctor's wife now."

"That you are." He said, smiling.

Everyone came up and congratulated Hiram and Katie. Mrs. Oleson hugged her niece, and even shook Doc Baker's hand. Little Laura Ingalls hugged Katie and then told Dr. Baker, "I always knew you and Katie would get married,...but now all I have to say is...It's about time!"

The whole room, including Laura, burst into laughter.


End file.
